Classic Colors

Designers tell us what colors they always go back to.

Distinguished designers tell us what colors they keep going back to again and again.

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Color Classics

In Rex Harrison's dining alcove, designer Keith Irvine put a coat of varnish over the blue (see next slide) so "you can almost see yourself reflected in it." The ceiling was glazed in a custom off-white with a touch of gold to pick up on the glint of all the acting trophies.

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Dark Royal Blue

BENJAMIN MOORE DARK ROYAL BLUE 2065-20: "I'm mad about this dark inky blue, as it gives great vibrancy and depth to a wall — especially if you put a topcoat of good clear varnish over it. That's what we did in Rex Harrison's Manhattan apartment in this fabulous little dining alcove. The bookcases and walls were all Dark Royal Blue, varnished over, and then highlighted by vertical pilasters which were faux-tortoise-shelled and partially gilded. That adds a glitter that ties in with the golden-tone 'antelope' rug and the Oscar and Tony awards on the bookshelf." -Keith Irvine

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All White

FARROW & BALL ALL WHITE 2005: "I never paint every wall in a room the same color. Light hits each wall in a different way, so I have to adjust the shade. It's usually white, but not one white. All White is a pure white, Pointing has a little ocher, Slipper Satin has more gray, and between the three I can usually get what I want. Before I start mixing, I'll check the room at different times of day. One of the most important things is how the shadows fall. That can be the most beautiful of all." -Rose Tarlow

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Pointing

FARROW & BALL POINTING 2003

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Slipper Satin

FARROW & BALL SLIPPER SATIN 2004

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Rich Brown

BENJAMIN MOORE DECK ENAMEL RICH BROWN 60 DECK ENAMEL BLACK C-112-80: "I can't tell you how many times I've used this. It's a very good formula, which I'm not sure I should reveal — Benjamin Moore deck enamel brown mixed half and half with deck enamel black. Decorating people call this tête de negre, but that's so highfalutin. It's just a beautiful dark brown with some gloss to it. The shine reflects the light, so it doesn't seem like a dark room. Try it with white trim and a touch of pink." -William Hodgins

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Black

BENJAMIN MOORE DECK ENAMEL BLACK C-112-80

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Moorish Red

PAPERS & PAINTS LTD. MOORISH RED HC55: "You can see the ground-up pigment in this paint, which gives it depth and a little iridescence. It's not flat, like American paints. All those 18th-century Robert Adam rooms were done this way. Red is an action color, but this has a lot of coral and umber, which softens it. It conjures up Greek vases and the walls of Knossos. It has the weight of antiquity. I believe in the future, but I still like an edge of the past." -David Easton

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DKC-5

DONALD KAUFMAN COLOR COLLECTION DKC-5: "You know what my color is — white. And it's always Donald Kaufman #5. I think there's every color in that white. It catches light and shadow and does a little magic thing around the edges of paneling. My whole apartment is #5, from top to bottom, front to back. It's like Chanel No. 5. You always feel good in it." -Mariette Himes Gomez

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Vert de Terre

FARROW & BALL VERT DE TERRE 234: "This is the furry, fuzzy green of lamb's ears. Very herbal. It's so potager, yet at the same time it's faded boiserie and Chinese porcelain and Colonial Williamsburg. The green is rich without being too saturated, and makes a great backdrop for mahogany, silver, or ivory. It's the color of my fantasy room — a book-lined great ballroom with a lit Polonaise in the middle of the limestone floor and orange trees in tubs. A pavilion in the forest." -Charlotte Moss

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Minster Green

FARROW & BALL MINSTER GREEN 224: "Green is my favorite color. It's just so soothing, and I think a library should be a soothing dark color. Wood, if you can have it. If you can't, make it this woodsy green. I like it glazed. I think any paint color is better glazed — it has more depth. We did this in the prettiest house in Long Island, with white-and-green embroidered fabric, and when we redid the room years later, the clients wanted it exactly the same way." -Betty Sherrill

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Patriotic White

BENJAMIN MOORE PATRIOTIC WHITE 2135-70: "When the sun streams in, the walls read white, and then as the day progresses, the color comes out. At night, the room is bathed in a pale, pale blue-green. I love the mercurial quality of it. It looks beautiful by the ocean, because it echoes the subtleties of the sea. I often use it in bedrooms — it's softer than a sharp white. It works well with velvets or Rogers & Goffigon linens that have the same mercurial quality." -Vicente Wolf

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Oriental Iris

BENJAMIN MOORE ORIENTAL IRIS 1418: "I'm emotionally attracted to periwinkle blue. It's soothing and serene and metamorphic, because it goes from gray into blue into lavender, depending on the time of day and the month of the year and the person looking at it. No two people see color the same way. Blue combines two things I love, the ocean and the sky, which lifts me out of the quagmire of reality. It's a kind of bath. It represents a cleansing." -John Saladino

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Smokey Taupe

BENJAMIN MOORE SMOKEY TAUPE 983: "This is the color of a beautiful Belgian linen. Very classic. Not too light and not too dark, but with enough depth to look great on a wall. I would do it with white moldings and bleached maple floors. Natural materials like limestone and granite look great against it. So does artwork. Bring in black lacquer, white upholstery, and red for an accent. Or try lilac and aqua. It would be gorgeous with peony pink or java brown on antique French chairs." -Sally Sirkin Lewis

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Sundance

BENJAMIN MOORE SUNDANCE 2022-50: "This is a medium-strength yellow, the color of fresh pineapple. People love it. I have clients who use it over and over again. It's just a happy color. Try it in a living room or a dining room with a pale blue ceiling and white woodwork. It's like sunshine. Everything looks good against it — blue-and-white porcelain, a floral chintz. If you're trying to pick a paint to work with a chintz, look for the color that's least used in the pattern, and that's usually the color it looks great against." -Mario Buatta

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